ReviewYou might think it odd for a UK-based publication to review a product only available in the US, but such is Amazon's global reach that it's only a matter of time before the Kindle Fire is officially released over here.

In a move sure to delight aerospace fans everywhere, it has been announced that one of NASA's retired space shuttles will make a landing in the harbour of New York City next year – onto the deck of an aircraft carrier.

Our shock report earlier this week into the middle-aged Brit tourist who ended up dangling naked from the stairs of a Tenerife apartment block after a sex-based mishap prompted several readers to admit they were having trouble picturing just what a naked middle-aged Brit tourist dangling from the stairs of a Tenerife apartment block looks like.

Accessory of the WeekI use a USB handset with Skype on my Mac, and I’ve been looking for something similar to use with my iPhone when I’m in the office. Bluetooth headsets just make me feel silly, so I’ve opted for the distinctly low-tech and unpretentious Desktop Phone from Thumbs Up instead.

Plans to allow Blighty cops to "switch off" websites used by criminals have been delayed following pressure from internet firms and campaigners, who claimed such a move would hamper freedom of expression online.

It's Thanksgiving again, the time of year when denizens of our former American colonies - alas, still in a distressingly successful and prolonged state of rebellion against their rightful sovereign - like to assemble as families and fortify themselves for a punishing day of shopping by scoffing a mountain of tuck while watching men in protective equipment running into one another on TV.

Climate scientists funded by the US government have announced new research in which they have established that the various doomsday global warming scenarios are in fact extremely unlikely to occur, and that the scenarios considered likeliest - and used for planning by the world's governments - are overly pessimistic.

ReviewThe Olympus PEN Mini is a no-fuss, interchangeable lens camera created for the casual photographer that wants the respectable image quality of a Micro Four Thirds system at the price and size of a compact.

When the Mars rover Curiosity takes off tomorrow, it'll be packing a plutonium battery to power its myriad scientific instruments, but it could be one of the last to do so if NASA's next budget doesn't get approved.

QuotwThis was the week when Apple's plans for a Black Friday sale on pretty much everything except its iPhone were leaked to the web and speaking of iPhones, rumours were once more circulating about the elusive number 5 and how well-endowed it will be.

The Golden Age of Computer Sales surely must have been Christmas 1984. The Macintosh had just been released, Compaq and IBM offered powerful new CPUs, but the real action was a massive Christmas sales battle between the Apple//c and the IBM PCjr. I remember it well, I was working at ComputerLand in Los Angeles, and I was at the very center of the battle.

The London Fire Brigade is asking the public to be a bit more careful around letterboxes, shredders and tambourines as it issues a breakdown of 417 incidents where it was obliged to "release people, or body parts, which had become trapped in objects or machinery".

The Anonymous hacking collective's AntiSec group has launched a fresh assault on law enforcement agencies with the release of what they claim are personal emails stolen from a Californian cybercrime investigator.

Fraudsters and hackers could soon get slapped with social media bans as the government plans to encourage judges to dish out online punishments for online crime. The online tagging system is one of several recommendations announced today in the 2011 Cyber Security Strategy.

ReviewReleasing a driving game into an already congested market is a risky endeavour for any developer. So it follows that releasing two within six months could be considered careless. But to release three within a year, as EA has now done, seems at best illogical and, at worst, pure cannibalistic folly.

The Mexican archaeology institute says that a second possible reference has been found to a date in December 2012 as the end of a 5,200-year Mayan calendar cycle after which "the cosmos is regenerated". Reportedly the glyph in question is carved into the back of a brick found in ancient temple ruins - suggesting that it was a hidden secret, not meant to be seen.

AnalysisI got some pushback from readers on the more skeptical side of the climate issue for describing Climategate as 'a tragedy'. There was clear evidence of cynicism and dishonesty, they argue - doesn't this let them off the hook? Not at all. But we need the bigger picture. Let's try this as a thought exercise.

Last month Google made secure search the default option for logged in users – mostly to improve privacy protection. But there is a beneficial side-effect - it is harder for fraudsters to manipulate the search engine rankings of scam sites.

The UK space agency has warned that Russia and Kazakhstan will be responsible for any damage resulting from the probe Phobos-Grunt plummeting to Earth, and outlined in detail those locations at risk: that is, most of the inhabited world apart from remote northern and southern regions.

While tales of UFOs and alien abductions are still being greeted with snorts of derision, NASA really is searching the skies for signs of extraterrestrial life, though it's not little green (or grey) men the agency is looking for, it's signs of life - most probably not above the microbial level - on Mars.

The global launch of a new smartphone brought a huge mob of thousands of desperate punters to the doors of a shopping centre on Thursday night - ahead of Friday's grand unveiling. By the time staff unlocked the doors there was a 3,000-strong crowd, a huge crush surged forward and several people fainted.

Open ... and ShutThe software risk silly season is upon us again. Every so often a big trend washes over the industry, and soon afterwards well-intentioned people start telling us why we should be afraid to dip our toes into the water. Or perhaps they are not so well-intentioned...